Open data most important for new-age farming

“The next decade is perhaps the most important for the global agricultural industry, factoring in some of the urgent challenges we need to deal with – climate change, depleting land and water resources and growing population. While at the same time, we can find hope in some of the key technological and scientific advancements that promise to help us address these challenges,” Laperrière added.

“Access to critical information is unfairly skewed – be it amongst the large scale industries over small farmers, multinational corporations than local industries, wealthier countries in the west than the developing nations, or simply be gender – women, particularly in developing economies are the farthest behind when it comes to accessing information or technology. Breaking this digital divide and unleashing democratic access to information and data in the agriculture and farming industry will help us finally propel this industry to the 21st century, and truly equip it to help fight global hunger and feed an increasing population.”

“The UK and particularly the European Union are leaders in this space, recognising the urgent policy support required to support the industry to weather these challenges. British farming standards for animal welfare and food safety are one of the highest in the world, helping set the narrative for sustainable food production.”

“In the early part of this year, the European Commission (EC) is expected to unveil its Farm-2-Fork (F2F) strategy, with the President of the EC Ursula von der Leyen supporting a comprehensive EU wide food policy from production to consumption. The initiative to make agriculture sustainable is part of von der Leyen’s flagship environmental policy and is expected to reshape the global narrative on agriculture and farming.”